Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are therefore essential for life itself. Amino acids can be either of the type found in proteins of biological sources (so called naturally occurring) or can be of other types that are synthesized chemically (so called synthetic amino acids). Amino acids of either the naturally occurring type or the synthetic type have a multitude of uses including use as a nutritional source or intermediate therefor and use as building blocks for various biologically active peptides and proteins (e.g. see for example, C. Y. Bowers, et. al., European Patent Application WO 87/06835).
Alpha-amino acids typically have one asymmetric carbon atom and therefore can be either in the L or D form. In most cases the L form is the form found in proteins of biological sources. For various applications it is desirable to have only one optically active form of the amino acid (rather than the other form or a racemic mixture). Therefore processes for production of an amino acid with a particular degree of optical purity are highly desirable.